These gallery shots are of uniquely made frames tailored to suit
various EJ Hughes paintings. These are on display in the Barbeau Owen Gallery at the Audain Art Museum. www.audainartmuseum.com. I worked closely with owner and collector Jacques Barbeau over the course of ten years to frame these 15 paintings. We chose the strongest elements from each painting, emphasizing them through the shape and colour of the frame.

This project was to create a pair of matching mirror frames for a newly-designed ensuite bathroom which contained a heavily patterned hickory vanity. I incorporated into the frames various woods and their respective patterns and tones. Starting with custom shaped bevelled mirrors, I created a wood-based substrate for the veneers. Decorative walnut and Eastern maple veneers adorn these matching mirror frames.

Here is a custom-sized 12k white gold leaf oval framed mirror for a single-basin vanity. The frame was shaped around a newly formed bevelled mirror. The leaf was water-gilded on a red clay base. When the leaf was dry, an agate stone burnisher pressed the leaf to create a highly reflective surface which matches the chrome tap set of the basin. Water gilding is an old world technique. The frame finish is highly sensitive to water; therefore, I suggest this type of finish should not be placed in a bathroom with a shower and always be cleaned with a dry cloth if water touches the finish.

This unique profile was based on a Group of Seven frame. The gilded surface has a palladium leaf on a black clay base; the leaf has been burnished with an agate stone to reveal a highly reflective surface. The gray tone of the frame is a painted surface on gessoed wood to reflect the colours within the watercolour.

From the collection of Jacques Barbeau.

I highlighted this work’s colours by painting the surface of a gesso-covered wood frame with yellow and black tones. Due to the 100 lbs-weight watercolour paper having a blank 3” border, I had to create a large open area behind the frame to accommodate the perimeter of the paper while only showing the actual painting.

Working with the highly knowledgeable Ian Thom, head curator at the VAG for 30 years, we modified and reproduced profiles suitable for the early Canadian works of art in the gallery’s collection.

Here we have a minimal frame housing a beveled mirror. Using fir wood flooring from Josh’s Strathcona home, I shaped, cut, and joined the selected profile with a limed wood finish to be an integral fixture and complement the minimal interior design style of his home.

My collaboration with Ian Thom, curator and Emily Carr historian, resulted in frame profiles based on one of Mr. Audain’s existing Emily Carr frames from the 1930s. These two profiles accompany several Emily Carr images which are on display at the Audain Art Museum, Whistler, B.C., www.audainartmuseum.com. We used a larger version of the profile for the oil paintings, and reduced it for the works on paper, which are contained within 4” mat surrounds.

The outer gilded frame is comprised of four pieces on an offset of another four pieces of wood, creating a wood construct that will keep its integrity throughout the ages. Various leaf can be applied on many colours of clay, with the most common being sterling silver, 23k gold, 12k white gold, 18k green leaf and non-tarnishing palladium leaf.

Under the direction of the Cahén Foundation, I used Eastern maple wood to create four profiles to best suit these Oscar Cahén works. The dark frame is derived from a Picasso-style frame, with a polished finish described by Michael Cahén as “a worn and well-used butt of a hunter’s gun”. The off-white rectilinear frame and the combination of line and form is intended to complement Cahén’s lighter graphic designed images.

Thank you to the Cahén Archives for permission to share these images on my site.

This Emily Carr image of a grouping of three stylized tree trunks enveloped in a forest mist was painted on paper, the trees’ vertical
climb echoed by the upright gilded crown of the frame. The off-white inner portion helps to lighten the dark feeling of a lonely moment in a deep wet forest.

Jack Shadbolt is said to have found inspiration while digging a hole in his Burnaby back yard and observing the different layers of life found in the soil. This experience proved influential over and over in the creation of his abstractions. The gilded frame reflects light to warm the colours of the painting.

Lawren Harris is often considered the major force behind the Group of Seven, a mid-century Canadian artistic group who used landscapes as a their most frequent subject. Harris’ abstract imagery didn’t catch collectors’ attention until much later on. Complementing his composition with a simple off-white frame with no gilded element is intended to help bring the viewer’s eye to the depth of the abstraction.

I framed this image from the direction of a private collector. What makes this project unique is the place and subject matter depicted; it’s a 1950s French canal reflecting a time and place with curious shapes which form a striking abstraction.

In terms of process, I began with a wood template, then created the full lengths of the frame. After mitring and joining, I used a chisel and a wooden plane to assist me to shape the profile of the frame, then apply gesso, black clay, and finally 12k white gold leaf next to an off-white painted finish. The subtle gilded outer edge and inner painted finish invite the eye to move toward the painting.

Binning’s favourite substrate was the rough side of 3/16” masonite. In the same manner, I created an off-white painted surface with rough side out as a liner surround. The frame mimics colours in the painting, using the liner and an outer frame with dark brown, establishing a strong border. From the collection of Ian Thom.

Using an existing tray frame, I began this project with a rigorous finish removal. I then applied a thick layer of traditional gesso as base for a black clay layer, on which I water gilded 12k white gold leaf.

Gathie Faulk’s works on canvas have a soft warmth defined by her controlled drafting. The chosen profile directed by Equinox’s Deirdre Hoffer is a combination an outer edge of natural wood grain with double-splined corners and a sterling silver gilded crown. I sudued the reflective silver with several layers of toner which as a softened surface compliments Gathie Faulk’s style.

The Charles H Scott Gallery displayed this 102” x 162” work on canvas with its extremely thin 23k gold leaf gilded reveal tray frame. The frame is narrow but even at this size keeps its integrity by reflecting a golden glow from its outer edge.

Wow! This stretcher endeavour was a one-of-a-kind exercise. Typically a stretcher has four 90 degree angles. However, these atypical stretchers have varying acute and obtuse angles.  I created angular keyed mitres for this project. These mitres are open mortise and tenon keyed joints.  The keys allow the stretchers to enlarge and tighten the canvas surface.

Canadian artist and satirist Rodney Graham pierced eye holes in an early 19th-century newspaper, as seen here, and images are displayed in a photo light box (top). He then reproduced the newspaper as a photo on paper for which I designed and created a substrate support which maintains the natural curl of the page, and fixes the newspaper in a simple white frame.

Housed in the Rennie Museum located in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, the display of this collection of abstract paintings has an awe-inspiring effect. These Rodney Graham abstractions are held within carved frames next to a tapered ladder, intended to draw the eye upward to higher knowledge.

At the Rennie Collection, 2014.

An early French picture frame maker named Bouche created many frames with a variety of linear carvings. Rodney asked me to reproduce four Bouche styles for his many abstract works. After I reproduced over 30 Bouche frames, Rodney formed a unique wall for an exhibit at the Rennie Museum.

This is one of four period frames on display as a backdrop component in Vacuuming the Gallery, 1949, shown at the Lisson Gallery in London. The piece is comprised of a set of four painted aluminum lightboxes with transmounted chromogenic transparencies with an impressive size of 10’ x 24’.

This particular frame has a carved pattern referred to as the “pea and sausage.” It’s found on the outer edge of a reversed profile where the innermost frame is the tallest rolling away from the image to a shallow decorative outer edge.

In preparation for the show Central Questions of Philosophy at London’s Lisson Gallery in October, 2018, Rodney asked me to create a 9” wide by 3 1/2” tall profile sample frame with two carved patterns. He felt the original frame was too heavy, so we decided to remove one of the carved portions, reducing the frame to 6” wide by 3 1/2” tall.

The chosen frame, at 72” tall and 126” long acts as a focal point of one of his most recent lightboxes, Vacuuming the Gallery, 1949.  The final piece consists of four painted aluminum lightboxes with transmounted chromogenic transparencies, measuring 10’ x 26’.

This is a copy of an old frame found in Vancouver. I stylized its carving to have the same charm as the original.

Because the original had no finish, the wood was left to oxidize naturally leaving a dry, dark appearance. This is a difficult look to reproduce, but was attained by many layers of powdery toner applications.

First shown at the Charles H Scott Gallery on Granville Island in Vancouver, and most recently Shown at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle in Munich Nov 2017 – Feb 2018. This multi-piece work, titled “Black Tapestry”, comprises 25 darkly painted-over copies of Carole King's legendary 1971 album Tapestry, making each cover unique.

Each cover is framed with a thin glossy black lacquered perimeter, an 8-ply off-white cotton matting and covered by Optium conservation plexiglass.

Rodney Graham’s series of “Rock Paintings”, is a combination painting and collage using 1980s material from Circus Magazine, which at that time specialized in Hair Metal. Shown at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle in Munich Nov 2017 – Feb 2018.

These ten works on canvas are softly floated in minimal tray frames and water gilded with 23k gold leaf on black clay.

This revealing frame with thin measure was chosen for its linear style to complement these images.

The challenge was to make it sturdy enough to hold the weight of the 4’ by 3’ photos mounted on aluminum panels. Helped by a wooden backing, the panel was retained and supported within the black lacquered frame.

I re-create ornaments using molds from certain period frames to suit art work. Here, I wanted to use a soft ornament with a water-gilded finish to work with the still life’s form and colour.

Cityscape abstraction, oil on canvas, 1960s.

I drew from Smith’s rectilinear drafting by emphasizing the thin lines with a 12k gold crown. The second part the frame, the off-white inner portion, allows the image to float within the frame.

Having chosen a traditional equestrian profile, I created this frame with a 23k gold leaf cove and a painted outer edge.

I often revive old, damaged and mistreated picture frames by re-creating ornaments using molds or carving by hand. After repairing the missing composition, I gild and tone to match the existing finish. I can also reduce the size of existing antique frames to fit particular artwork.

This picture frame had a great deal of wear upon the crown. In order to water-gild it, I applied missing gesso, red clay and 23k gold leaf. The final finish has a warm golden appearance.

In framing the work of Vyacheslav Kalinin with his dynamic painting style, I created a frame design that has carved patterns in each corner. The patterns reference the theme of this painting titled “5 Senses”. The picture frame’s highly reflective surface, a water-gilded 23k gold leaf finish, enhances the plentiful colours and captures the complex narrative of the painting.

A private collector came to me with a specific profile in mind. I drew up a proposal and then began to mill and shape the raw wood. After hand detailing the shape I applied either a flat black lacquer or a dry water-based wax finish.

This richly coloured work on canvas required a simple copper leaf detail that would bring out the warm yellow and orange tones.

Taken from a frame that once housed an early Granmaison pastel portrait, this frame’s pattern was a free-flowing organic form I carved to match with a watergilded sterling silver leaf upon a blue clay, highlighting the blue tones found within the image.

Uno Langmann Fine Art Gallery has many quality works of art. On occasion I am required to restore aged ornate picture frames. This particular frame had missing ornament. I produced a cast for the new composition upon which I applied yellow and red clay to produce a 23k gold leaf water-gilded finish.

Due to many years of wear and tear, these pedestal tables for Uno Langmann required special attention. I applied the gold leaf and wood finishes necessary to bring back their original charm.

I re-create frames from any time period to match an existing frame or to create a feel for an era. I have reproduced frames from the Chippendale, Victorian, Gothic, and Edwardian periods.

For Uno Langmann

A spline is a long, narrow, thin strip of wood. Splines offer visible reinforcement without nails, and are used in these frames as decorative elements.

I have created many challenging items for donation to the Arts Umbrella: a recreation of a Chippendale carved and pierced mirror frame 40” x 20”, circa 1760, a gilded wood convex mirror frame crowned with an in-flight eagle, a neoclassical bench, a bull’s eye mirror frame with gilded shot.  I also collaborated with talented local carver Rob Chaplin. He created the four wind carvings in each corner of a gilded and painted mirror frame.